Display stands



June 9, 1959 L, H; BEST 2,889,937 I DISPLAY STANDS Filed Aug. 25. 1955 INVENTOR. LEON H. BEST z/MMM ATTORNEYS United States Patent if DISPLAY STANDS iheoii I-i Best, Galva, 111., aSSiglmr to John H. Best & Sons Inc Ga ra, 111,, a'cor'poratiqn of Illinois Application 'August 23, 1955, Serial No. 530,169 4 Claims. (Cl. 21146).

The displaying of rug samples or the like attimes is i accomplished by an upright stand adapted to suspend the samples" in a group from rings at the top of the stand, andw ile exhibiting e S m les t se ref turned one.- by ne from the front to the back of the standi' It is sometimes desired to return to a particular sample at theback of the stand, and one. of the objects ofthe present in vention is to enable the samples at the. back of the stand to be readily accessible for return to the frontfof the stand. I

Th ni t es n h s and are Of o rse f en. uppl mented or replaced by new samples, and another object of the present invention is to enable the rings that suspend the samples to;be-n1anipulated easily for. thus revising the group of samplesL. I

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent'from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawing which, by way of illustration, shows .a preferred embodiment of the. present invention andthe. principles .thereof and what I now consider to. be. the best. mode .in which I have contemplated applying those principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a display stand having the improvements according to the present invention embodied therein;

Fig. 2 is aback view of a part of the display stand shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view, to a larger scale as compared with Fig. 1, showing certain details of the article supporting rings seen in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing details of an anchor for each of the article supporting rings shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view being taken in the direction of the arrows 5-5 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 66 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing details of an anchor for another end of the closed article supporting ring shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

The present invention is illustrated as embodied in an upright display stand or rack 10 in the form of an easel 11 which is tilted from the vertical as shown. The easel 11 is supported at the back by a pair of spaced legs 12 extending rearwardly from the easel 11 in the manner shown, and these legs are provided at their lower ends with feet such as the pads 13. A strut 14 extends in a generally forward direction from each of the legs 12, and terminates at the forward end thereof in a generally U-shaped pad member 16 which embraces the lower edge 2,889,937 Patented June 9, 1959 of the easel 11 and provides feet upon which the lower edge of the easel is supported. I

The easel 11 is arranged to support a plurality of samples 17 which are arranged in a forwardly facing stack. The samples 17, which may be rug samples or the like, normally rest against the front face of the easel 11 and are suspended at their upper ends by a pair of closed article supporting rings or loops 18. Each of thesamples 17 has spaced apertures 19, provided near the top thereof through which the rings 18 are threaded in the usual way.

Spaced brackets 2 1, Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 6, are held to the backdof theeasel 11 by any convenient means, as by screws (not shown) for supporting the rings 18 as will be described. The brackets 21 are elongated, and an anchor block 22 for one end of the ring 18 is arranged at the lower end of each bracket 21 and is secured thereto by welds 23 as shown in Fig. 4. Each such anchor block 22 is drilled at 24 to receive the forward or lower end of the corresponding ring 18, such end of the ring 18 passing through an aligned aperture 27 in the easel 11,. and the ends 26 of the rings 18 are held in position to the anchor blocks 22 by means of a set screw 28 as shown in Fig. 4.

Each ring 18 is generally circular in form, passing over the top of the easel, and at the end opposite that secured to the block 22 is formed with an upwardly inclined straight arm 29 which projects radially inwardly of the ring 18-and in a direction towardthe backs of the easel 11 as can be seen in Fig. 3. The inner end of each radial arm 29 has welded thereto a generally U-shaped lug31, Fig. 6, which embraces a complementary lug 32 provided at the'upper end of the-- bracket 21, there being apin connection 33 between theselugs as shown in Fig. 6..,

lnd p ayi g an viewing ac of t e ample the a ple ar y ndi i t al y if ed andtu ned a o t e r n 18 to a position at the back ofthe easel 11 to. engagetlie bends 29B of the arms 29 each acting as a stop. The samples that were thus viewed may be allowed to remain in such out-of-the-way position, where it is unnecessary that they be held by the demonstrator while the top-most sample at the front of the easel is being displayed. In the event, however, that it is desired to return to a sample, it is conveniently located in an accessible position by the aforementioned stops.

Additional samples may be added to the display rack 11 by loosening the screws 28, withdrawing the corresponding ends of the rings 18 through the apertures 27 and then turning or pivoting the rings 18 on the pins 33 at the back of the easel 11 to the dotted line position indicated in Fig. 3. When new samples have been added to the stand by being threaded on the released rings 18, the rings 18 are then rotated in the opposite direction, and the ends 26 thereof again locked in position by the screws 28 to the anchor blocks 22.

It will be seen from the foregoing that when samples are to be substituted or replaced, this may be readily accomplished by turning all the samples to the stops 29B at the back of the easel, releasing the rings and performing the desired revision. Moreover, the stops 29B serve to locate the samples at the back of the easel in quickly accessible positions when it is desired to return them to the front of the easel for re-display.

Hence, while I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that this is capable of variation and modification, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A display stand for a plurality of fiat articles such as rug samples or the like comprising an easel tilted slightly from the vertical, a support for thus disposing said easel, a pair of rings each of individual construction and spaced from each other near the top of said easel, each of said rings providing points of suspension at the front of said easel for said articles, apertures in said easel through which ends of said ringsmay be passed individually, brackets mounted on the back of said easel and including screw members at the lower ends thereof and threadedly mounted therein for releasably anchoring said ends of said rings, each of said rings including a substantially truly arcuate back portion extending over the top of said easel in a plane substantially normal to the plane of said easel, the other end of each of said rings including a substantially straightarm extending substantially radially inwardly and upwardly toward the back of said easel, and means pivotally anchoring individually the ends of said radial arms to said brackets at the upper ends of said brackets, said first-named means when released enabling said rings to be pivoted about said pivotal anchors for removal and insertion as desired of the flat articles, and said radially extending arms serving as a stop for displayed articles hanging in pendant fashion from said rings at the back of said easel.

2. A display stand for suspending a plurality of flat articles such as rug samples or the like comprising an easel, a support for said easel, a pair of article supporting rings unconnected to each other and spaced from each other near the top of said easel and affording points of support at the front of said easel for suspending said flat articles vertically, said rings extending across the top of said easel beyond the back thereof and including substantially straight arms extending radially inwardly toward the back of said easel, means pivotally anchoring the ends of said arms to the back of said easel, and means releasably holding the ends of said rings opposite said arms to the fiont of the easel.

3. A display stand rack for suspending a plurality of flat articles such as rug samples or the like comprising an easel, a pair of article supporting rings spaced from each other near the top of said easel and alfording points of suspension at the front of said easel for suspending said fiat articles from openings provided in said flat articles, apertures in said easel through which the front ends of said rings are received, means for releasably holding the front ends of said rings in said apertures, each of said rings including an arched portion extending over the top of said easel and being formed with upwardly inclined straight arms that extend in the direction of the back of the easel, and means at the back of the easel to which the inner ends of said arms are pivotally connected, said rings thereby being pivotable for removal and insertion as desired of the flat articles, and said arms acting as stops for articles turned on said rings from the front of the easel to the back thereof.

4. A display rack for suspending a plurality of flat articles such as rug samples or the like comprising an easel tilted slightly from the vertical, a support for holding said easel in such tilted relation, a pair of article support,- ing rings spaced from each other near the top of said easel, each of said rings providing points of support at the front of said easel for suspending said flat articles from openings provided in said flat articles, spaced apertures in said easel in which the front ends of said rings are received, screw means for engaging and releasably holding the front ends of said rings in said apertures, each of said rings being arched across the top of said easel and each including an arm bent inwardly and upwardly toward the back of said easel, and means for pivotally anchoring the ends of said arms to the back of said easel, said first-named means when released enabling said rings to be rocked on said pivotal anchors for removal and insertion as desired of the flat articles.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 807,383 Johnson Dec. 12, 1905 1,249,015 Brink Dec. 4, 1917 1,617,958 MacLean 'Feb. 15, 1927 2,019,090 Pepper Oct. 29, 1935 2,301,692 Forca Nov. 10, 1942 

